Pain enters through an open window
and you say it is the wind.
It marrows into beams, gutters
walls.
Still you insist:
It is only a passing storm.
All while it seeps under your door—
long having eluded the watchman,
fallen asleep at his post—and floods
the whole damn house.
Come daybreak,
you are a different kind of hostage now,
as it weeps into your bowl of porridge,
casts itself into the misshapen face
gleaming back at you from a tarnished spoon.
In time, you will make your bed
with this new order.
In time,
you will simply make the bed and lie down.
Source: Poetry (April 2025)
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Paul Allison is a nationally-known educator and EdTech expert… (more)
Paul Allison is a nationally-known educator and EdTech expert… (more)
Great question, Paul! I’d love to show you how I came up with those sparks and lead lines. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at my thinking:
SPARK 1: Imagine something small that slowly takes over—an idea, a feeling, a sound—until it fills up everything. Tell a story, write a poem, or draw a picture about what happens next.
Lead line: It starts with just…
[sub-themes: a feeling or emotion, a secret or rumor, a memory or dream, a sound or smell, a drop of water or light]
How I got here:
The poem describes pain as something that “enters through an open window,” at first gentle, almost unnoticed, and then “marrows into beams, gutters, walls.” It builds quietly, steadily, until it fills the “whole damn house.” This suggested a slow, creeping takeover—where something small at first becomes huge over time.
Quotations that inspired this spark:
and you say it is the wind.
walls.
The lead line, “It starts with just…”, comes from the way the poem traces the tiny beginning of pain to its overwhelming presence. The sub-themes (like a feeling, rumor, or drop of water) are all ways that something tiny can grow and take over, just as in the poem.
SPARK 2: Write about a time when you pretended something wasn’t happening, even though you knew it was. You can make this funny, serious, or even magical. Any form is okay!
Lead line: I kept telling myself…
[sub-themes: ignoring a problem, hiding from change, pretending to be brave, making excuses, a secret you didn’t want to face]
How I got here:
The poem’s speaker tries to explain away the pain (“you say it is the wind,” “It is only a passing storm”), even as it gets bigger. There’s a sense of denial, of pretending not to see what’s happening, until it’s impossible to ignore.
Quotations that inspired this spark:
This inspired the “I kept telling myself…” lead line, which lets you write about denial or making excuses in any context. The sub-themes are all different ways we might do this.
SPARK 3: Think about how things look different after something big happens. Write or draw about a person, place, or thing that changes so much, you hardly recognize it. Try a poem, a story, or even a comic strip!
Lead line: By morning, everything was…
[sub-themes: a changed room or home, a new feeling inside, seeing yourself differently, a friendship or family changing, the world outside looking new]
How I got here:
By the end of the poem, everything has changed: “you are a different kind of hostage now,” “it weeps into your bowl of porridge,” “casts itself into the misshapen face gleaming back at you.” There’s a sense of waking up and seeing a new reality you can’t escape.
Quotations that inspired this spark:
you are a different kind of hostage now, as it weeps into your bowl of porridge,
casts itself into the misshapen face gleaming back at you from a tarnished spoon.
you will simply make the bed and lie down.
The lead line, “By morning, everything was…,” invites you to write about how things look or feel different after a big change. The sub-themes give you ideas for what might be transformed.
This is how I read the poem and turned its themes and images into creative sparks for you! If you’d like, I can help you try out one of these approaches or brainstorm even more ideas. Just let me know!
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Paul Allison is a nationally-known educator and EdTech expert… (more)
Paul Allison is a nationally-known educator and EdTech expert… (more)
You’re wondering why the whole house, not just a part, gets filled up—how something small becomes so much. That’s such a powerful question! If you do a creative response first, you might find your own answer—writing, drawing, or singing from inside the poem’s feeling—then look back and read the poem the way a writer does. Let’s use your question as a spark for your own work!
Sometimes a tiny thing starts small and grows until it changes everything—imagine a feeling, an idea, or a secret that spreads until you can’t tell where it ends. Write, draw, or create about something that spreads and takes over more than you expected.
You might use this line: It started with just ___
[an emotion]
[a rumor]
[a sound]
[a memory]
[a color]
Think about a time when you tried to ignore a problem, hoping it would go away, but it kept showing up everywhere. Write, paint, or sing about what it feels like to pretend everything is fine when it isn’t.
You might use this line: Even as I said ___
[“It’s nothing”]
[words of comfort]
[a quiet lie]
[a simple excuse]
[something I wanted to believe]
Imagine waking up and finding that everything around you has changed because of something you didn’t want to notice before. Create a story, poem, comic, or song about what you do next.
You might use this line: By morning, everything ___
[looked different]
[felt heavier]
[was covered up]
[seemed quieter]
[wasn’t what I remembered]
Try using one of these “lead lines” to get started. You can put it at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of your work—wherever it feels right. Here are some ideas for how to get started:
Would you like to see how I thought about the poem and your question to make these sparks and lead lines? I can explain what I understood from the poem and show you my thinking! Just let me know if you want to see it.
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